4 Ways DEI Professionals Can Support Each Other

Dr. Nika White • March 17, 2022

Burnout has become one of the leading causes of employee turnover, especially in the last 2 years. A stream of terrifying racial turmoil exacerbated by the pandemic has pushed many people to their breaking point. As reported by Forbes , “Senior leaders have to make addressing burnout a priority or employees will have no choice but to leave in order to take care of themselves. That is damaging to them, to you, and to the economy.” And day in and day out, DEI professionals must endure hurtful and offensive conversations to push an organization to a more inclusive environment. When on the front line of change, you always bear the burden of revealing hard truths about people and organizations. When wading in a sea of anguish and frustration, a beacon of light in the form of other DEI professionals can be the rescuing one needs to continue this work for another day. Supporting each other increases the chances of us all succeeding.

Here are four ways DEI professionals can support each other:

1. Support

Physically support one another, whether it is on social media or in scholarly publications, encourage DEI messaging. In 2022, the more clicks, likes, favorites, comments, replies, shares, retweets, saves, and mentions you have, determines how many people will see your work, so let us help each other by – creating visibility to new networks. This is also a fantastic way to increase brand recognition. When finding new clients your brand is the first-way clients (or potential hiring managers) will meet you, so this can affect their perception and willingness to work with you. Viewing publications and social media is an effortless way to assist fellow DEI professionals to gain recognition and increase reach.

2. Listen

Engagement is another way to support DEI professionals. Since you know how stressful this work can be, ask them how they are doing and if they need your help. And then actually listen. Many people do not ask for help unless it is offered. Show that you are actively listening to the good and bad. Based on a study by Psychologist Matthias Mehl , people who have deeper conversations are happier than individuals who only participate in small talk. “… the happiest person in the study had twice as many substantive conversations, and only one-third the amount of small talk, as the unhappiest person. Almost every other conversation the happiest person had—about 46 percent of the day’s conversations—were substantive.” Engaging with other DEI professionals about shared experiences can increase their happiness and your own.

3. Share

Sharing is caring. Share your resources. DEI may be new to many organizations, so resources may be difficult to locate. Funding can become an uphill battle, so discuss resources in hopes that another will be able to make necessary structural changes. Resources can also take the form of employees, working space, equipment. Think outside of the box. If you cannot help with funding, could you lend someone space for an event or volunteer a few hours to help drum up a new business? Something that is hard to quantify is knowledge, however, it is the most valuable resource. Improvement only happens when you know what to improve. Share knowledge, like best practices, pricing, and experiences, with each other, so DEI professional can continue their work journey. At the beginning of your career, many DEI professionals will experience trial and error until they learn the best route. However, if you can share nuggets of advice to save a peer time and money, for many people you have just saved their business/job.

4. Mentor
We all have room to grow and constructive feedback from other DEI professionals is the best way to pinpoint specific places to improve. Mentors encourage and enable growth through goal setting, evaluation, and networking. Sometimes it is hard to visualize the next step in your career without a mentor with more experience. An experienced mentor can help you craft the steps necessary to continue climbing the ladder. Evaluation/ constructive feedback can help prepare you for the next promotion. It is difficult to improve on something you do not know you need to improve on. And networking is the best way to gain access to more career opportunities, clients, and knowledge. A mentor can introduce you to a lead that could change your business and life, but make sure you do the same for young up and comers when you become an “experienced DEI professional.” A mentor/mentee relationship can set up all DEI professionals to flourish in a field that is demanding.

Final Thoughts

Peer backing comes in many forms, but they can all make or break your DEI progress. Support, listening, sharing, and mentorship are all areas DEI professionals can help nourish one another. With burnout on the rise, we must take care of each other. When you help support another DEI professional you are ensuring success for all of us.

Read more from The Human Shift on Substack, where I share long-form essays on leadership, culture, and how we work and live.

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